European journal of pain : EJP
-
Chronic pain is a growing societal concern that warrants scientific investigation, especially given the ineffectiveness of many treatments. Given evidence that pain experience relies on multisensory integration, there is interest in using body ownership illusions for reducing acute pain. ⋯ Pain intensity in chronic pain patients was reduced by 37% by 'out of body' illusions. These data demonstrate the potential of such illusions for the management of chronic pain.
-
Temporal summation of pain sensation is pivotal both in physiological and pathological nociception. In humans, it develops in parallel with temporal summation of the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR) of the lower limb, an objective representation of the temporal processing of nociceptive signals into the spinal cord. ⋯ The study demonstrated that TST of the NWR involves a selective deactivation of PCC.
-
Diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) is severe and intractable in clinic. The specific cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying DNP remain elusive and its treatment are limited. We investigated roles of EphB1 receptor in the development of DNP. ⋯ Activation of EphB1 receptor in the spinal cord is critical to maintaining the established diabetic neuropathic pain, but not to diabetic pain induction. Spinal blocking EphB1 receptor activation suppresses ongoing diabetic neuropathic pain.
-
Opioids are often used for pain treatment, but the response is often insufficient and dependent on e.g. the pain condition, genetic factors and drug class. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify biomarkers to enable selection of the appropriate drug for the individual patient, a concept known as personalized medicine. Quantitative sensory testing (QST) and clinical parameters can provide some guidance for response, but better and more objective biomarkers are urgently warranted. Electroencephalography (EEG) may be suitable since it assesses the central nervous system where opioids mediate their effects. ⋯ The current clinical study demonstrates the viability of EEG as a biomarker and with results consistent with previous experimental results. The combined method of machine learning and electroencephalography offers promising results for future developments of personalized pain treatment.
-
Expectations can dramatically influence the perception of pain, as has been shown in placebo analgesia or nocebo hyperalgesia. Here, we investigated the role of expectation on the interruptive function of pain - the negative consequences of pain on cognitive task performance - in 42 healthy human subjects. ⋯ We show that the interruptive function of pain on concurrent visual task performance is influenced by expectation. Positive expectation can abolish the detrimental effects of pain on cognition. These expectancy effects on the interruptive function of pain are mediated by changes in functional connectivity between rostral ACC, posterior fusiform cortex and the hippocampus.